I have a couple of valuelists which I want to be filled by field
values. This is not a problem; however, FM sorts the values in the
valuelist regardless of how I enter them in the field. This is not
desired.

Any ideas on how to fix it or turn it off?

Best,
Denis

In article <1187326755.052982.237970 [at] 57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, DS
<dsomar [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a couple of valuelists which I want to be filled by field
> values. This is not a problem; however, FM sorts the values in the
> valuelist regardless of how I enter them in the field. This is not
> desired.
>
> Any ideas on how to fix it or turn it off?

You can't "unsort" a Value List. FileMaker specifically sorts the
values so that it makes them easier to find during data entry ... but
unfortunately alphabetical / numerical sorting isn't always the best
idea.

The only way sort a value list in a different order is to use a second
field in the Value List definition and sort by this field. You can
enter numbers into the second field and the Value List will be sorted
in the order you want.

The only problem is that these second field values are also displayed
in the field alongside the first fields. This means that instead of
getting a Value List displayed like:

Fred
Wilma
Pebbles
Barney
Betty
Bam-Bam

you will have to have a Value List displayed like either:

01 Fred OR Fred 01
02 Wilma Wilma 02
03 Pebbles Pebbles 03
04 Barney Barney 04
05 Betty Betty 05
06 Bam-Bam Bam-Bam 06

Of course, you can achieve the same affect by simply adding the numbers
to the front of the data in the original field.

Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

In article <180820071329512947%helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com>,
Helpful Harry <helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com> wrote:

> In article <1187326755.052982.237970 [at] 57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, DS
> <dsomar [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I have a couple of valuelists which I want to be filled by field
> > values. This is not a problem; however, FM sorts the values in the
> > valuelist regardless of how I enter them in the field. This is not
> > desired.
> >
> > Any ideas on how to fix it or turn it off?
>
> You can't "unsort" a Value List. FileMaker specifically sorts the
> values so that it makes them easier to find during data entry ... but
> unfortunately alphabetical / numerical sorting isn't always the best
> idea.
>
> The only way sort a value list in a different order is to use a second
> field in the Value List definition and sort by this field. You can
> enter numbers into the second field and the Value List will be sorted
> in the order you want.
>
> The only problem is that these second field values are also displayed
> in the field alongside the first fields. This means that instead of
> getting a Value List displayed like:
>
> Fred
> Wilma
> Pebbles
> Barney
> Betty
> Bam-Bam
>
> you will have to have a Value List displayed like either:
>
> 01 Fred OR Fred 01
> 02 Wilma Wilma 02
> 03 Pebbles Pebbles 03
> 04 Barney Barney 04
> 05 Betty Betty 05
> 06 Bam-Bam Bam-Bam 06
>
> Of course, you can achieve the same affect by simply adding the numbers
> to the front of the data in the original field.
>
> Helpful Harry
> Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

In FMP 7 and later you can make it display the second field only.

--
For email, change <fake> to <earthlink>
Bill Collins

In article
<bbcollins-DCA7A7.18225118082007 [at] 032-478-847.area7.spcsdns.net>, Bill
<bbcollins [at] fake.net> wrote:

> In article <180820071329512947%helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com>,
> Helpful Harry <helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com> wrote:
>
> > In article <1187326755.052982.237970 [at] 57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, DS
> > <dsomar [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I have a couple of valuelists which I want to be filled by field
> > > values. This is not a problem; however, FM sorts the values in the
> > > valuelist regardless of how I enter them in the field. This is not
> > > desired.
> > >
> > > Any ideas on how to fix it or turn it off?
> >
> > You can't "unsort" a Value List. FileMaker specifically sorts the
> > values so that it makes them easier to find during data entry ... but
> > unfortunately alphabetical / numerical sorting isn't always the best
> > idea.
> >
> > The only way sort a value list in a different order is to use a second
> > field in the Value List definition and sort by this field. You can
> > enter numbers into the second field and the Value List will be sorted
> > in the order you want.
> >
> > The only problem is that these second field values are also displayed
> > in the field alongside the first fields. This means that instead of
> > getting a Value List displayed like:
> >
> > Fred
> > Wilma
> > Pebbles
> > Barney
> > Betty
> > Bam-Bam
> >
> > you will have to have a Value List displayed like either:
> >
> > 01 Fred OR Fred 01
> > 02 Wilma Wilma 02
> > 03 Pebbles Pebbles 03
> > 04 Barney Barney 04
> > 05 Betty Betty 05
> > 06 Bam-Bam Bam-Bam 06
> >
> > Of course, you can achieve the same affect by simply adding the numbers
> > to the front of the data in the original field.
> >
> > Helpful Harry
> > Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)
>
> In FMP 7 and later you can make it display the second field only.

Now that is a useful feature. :o)

Thanks for the update.

Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

Bill wrote:
> In article <180820071329512947%helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com>,
> Helpful Harry <helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com> wrote:
>
>> In article <1187326755.052982.237970 [at] 57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, DS
>> <dsomar [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have a couple of valuelists which I want to be filled by field
>>> values. This is not a problem; however, FM sorts the values in the
>>> valuelist regardless of how I enter them in the field. This is not
>>> desired.
>>>
>>> Any ideas on how to fix it or turn it off?
>> You can't "unsort" a Value List. FileMaker specifically sorts the
>> values so that it makes them easier to find during data entry ... but
>> unfortunately alphabetical / numerical sorting isn't always the best
>> idea.
>>
>> The only way sort a value list in a different order is to use a second
>> field in the Value List definition and sort by this field. You can
>> enter numbers into the second field and the Value List will be sorted
>> in the order you want.
>>
>> The only problem is that these second field values are also displayed
>> in the field alongside the first fields. This means that instead of
>> getting a Value List displayed like:
>>
>> Fred
>> Wilma
>> Pebbles
>> Barney
>> Betty
>> Bam-Bam
>>
>> you will have to have a Value List displayed like either:
>>
>> 01 Fred OR Fred 01
>> 02 Wilma Wilma 02
>> 03 Pebbles Pebbles 03
>> 04 Barney Barney 04
>> 05 Betty Betty 05
>> 06 Bam-Bam Bam-Bam 06
>>
>> Of course, you can achieve the same affect by simply adding the numbers
>> to the front of the data in the original field.
>>
>> Helpful Harry
>> Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)
>
> In FMP 7 and later you can make it display the second field only.
>


and there is an interesting/usefull consequence of this, particularly
for adding related data. The VL could be defined as field 1: filed_ID,
and the second as field_value (description...), with only show field 2

the actual field on the layout to which the value list is attached, is
made grab_ID, and the value list attached. The VL (F2) shows the
(related) names (Patient name, part description...) , but the actual
field on the layout grabs the related ID, while displaying the related name.


So in table A, one may want to add a related Item (table B), and this
can be done by just one field in table A to hard code the (related) item
ID. At the same time the ID field in table A, with the attached VL, will
display the related name details. No need for grabing the name and
looking up the ID... Haven't discovered any gotchas. I find this a
really usefull technique.

regards

Chris

>
> You can't "unsort" a Value List. FileMaker specifically sorts the
> values so that it makes them easier to find during data entry ...

Every once in a while a 'feature' of FM slaps me in the face and just
pissed me off. This is one of them. Why bother being able to add
separators and base value lists on field values if you can't choose
how it is to display those values. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Thanks for the help.

In article <1187591109.159522.59260 [at] 57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, DS
<dsomar [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> >
> > You can't "unsort" a Value List. FileMaker specifically sorts the
> > values so that it makes them easier to find during data entry ...
>
> Every once in a while a 'feature' of FM slaps me in the face and just
> pissed me off. This is one of them. Why bother being able to add
> separators and base value lists on field values if you can't choose
> how it is to display those values. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
>
> Thanks for the help.

Bill updated me for newer versions of FileMaker.

You can use a second field in the Value list, set the value List to
sort by this second field AND (unlike older versions) not display the
second field.

That should solve your problem, although you will need a second field
where you enter the numbers for the correct sort order that you want.

Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

When I deselect Also display values from the second field, the Sort
Values options get greyed out. Can't see an option to sort on but not
show the values from the second field.
I tried to include a snap of the my Manage Value List but found JPEG
attachments not supported.

> Bill updated me for newer versions of FileMaker.
>
> You can use a second field in the Value list, set the value List to
> sort by this second field AND (unlike older versions) not display the
> second field.
>
> That should solve your problem, although you will need a second field
> where you enter the numbers for the correct sort order that you want.
>
> Helpful Harry
> Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

In article <1187702232.166874.98780 [at] l22g2000prc.googlegroups.com>,
TomMcIn <tom_mcintosh [at] shaw.ca> wrote:
> >
> > Bill updated me for newer versions of FileMaker.
> >
> > You can use a second field in the Value list, set the value List to
> > sort by this second field AND (unlike older versions) not display the
> > second field.
> >
> > That should solve your problem, although you will need a second field
> > where you enter the numbers for the correct sort order that you want.
>
> When I deselect Also display values from the second field, the Sort
> Values options get greyed out. Can't see an option to sort on but not
> show the values from the second field.
> I tried to include a snap of the my Manage Value List but found JPEG
> attachments not supported.

I can't remember what version of FileMaker Bill said that option was
in, but obviously it wasn't the same one as the one you've got. That
means you're probably stuck with displaying the second value.

Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

In article <250820071347481050%helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com>,
Helpful Harry <helpful_harry [at] nom.de.plume.com> wrote:

> In article <1187702232.166874.98780 [at] l22g2000prc.googlegroups.com>,
> TomMcIn <tom_mcintosh [at] shaw.ca> wrote:
> > >
> > > Bill updated me for newer versions of FileMaker.
> > >
> > > You can use a second field in the Value list, set the value List to
> > > sort by this second field AND (unlike older versions) not display the
> > > second field.
> > >
> > > That should solve your problem, although you will need a second field
> > > where you enter the numbers for the correct sort order that you want.
> >
> > When I deselect Also display values from the second field, the Sort
> > Values options get greyed out. Can't see an option to sort on but not
> > show the values from the second field.
> > I tried to include a snap of the my Manage Value List but found JPEG
> > attachments not supported.
>
> I can't remember what version of FileMaker Bill said that option was
> in, but obviously it wasn't the same one as the one you've got. That
> means you're probably stuck with displaying the second value.
>
> Helpful Harry
> Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

Not exactly:

The option is to display the second field only.

So, if the key field of a relationship is the first field, but it is
meaningless to human beings (which most key fields will be if defined as
serial numbers), you would select as the second field something that is
intelligible to human beings, and then select the option of displaying
that second (intelligible) field only.

That option is found in FMP 9 and 8.5. It is not found in 7 or earlier.
I don't recall if it is found in 8.

--
For email, change <fake> to <earthlink>
Bill Collins